Identification, quantification and analysis of observable anthropogenic debris along swiss river and lakes (IQAASL)

IQAASL is a project sponsored by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment to quantify shoreline trash along swiss lakes and rivers. Multiple small scale litter surveys are completed at different locations within a designated survey area. For the year 2020/2021 the survey areas were defined by the municipalities that border the Aare, Rhône, Ticino and Linth/Limmat rivers and any lakes or rivers that contribute to one of these rivers.

What is a litter survey?

A litter survey is the identification and count of all anthropogenic objects found within a delimited area, in this study all surveys were bordered on one side by water (a river or lake). Each object is placed into one of 260 categories¹. The location, date, survey dimensions and the total number of objects in each category is noted.

Purpose of the surveys

The survey results help ALL stakeholders identify the items that make up the mass of trash found in the natural environment and where those objects are most likely to be found. The surveys answer the following questions:

  • What items are found?
    • The most abundant objects from the water feature and the survey area sorted by total object count
  • How much is found ? (total weights and item counts)
    • Total object count, total weight and weight of plastics
  • How often are these items found?
    • How often the most abundant items were identified
  • Where do you find the most?
    • Pieces of trash per meter (pcs/m): the ratio of number of objects found to the length of the shoreline for each survey location

These are the most frequently asked questions and should be considered when determining any mitigation or reduction strategies.

Assumptions:

  • The more trash there is on the ground the more a person is likely to find
  • The survey results represent the minimum amount of trash at that site²
  • For each survey: finding one item does not effect the chance of finding another³

Purpose of this report

Summarize the results for the water feature and define the magnitude of those results with respect to the rest of the survey area.

Contents of this report

Scope: description of water feature

  • survey locations
  • lakes and rivers
  • municipalities and effected population

Survey dimensions: locations, aggregated totals

  • weights and measures: cumulative
  • weights and measures: cumulative by survey location
  • survey totals by location: pcs/m by date
  • material type: % of total

Trash removed: the most abundant objects

  • the most common objects from the survey area
  • the most common objects from all the survey areas
  • pcs/m of most common objects for all survey locations of the water feature

Trash removed: the most frequent

  • The rate at which the most frequent objects were identified

Trash removed: utility

  • utility classification: % total of all objects found

Annex

  • effective data: report of missing records
  • correlation of results to local conditions
  • survey location coordinates
  • itemized list of objects removed

More information

For more information about the project visit project home.

If you would like more information about this survey area please contact:

  1. Swiss federal office for the environment - Municipal waste section
  2. analyst@hammerdirt.ch

¹ The EU guide on monitoring marine litter
² There is most likely more trash at the survey site, but certainly not less than what was recorded.
³ Independent observations : stats stackexchange

Results: Neuenburgersee

Scope

Survey locations, municipalities

For the period between 2020-01 and 2021-04, 4,825 objects were removed and identified in the course of 44 surveys. Those surveys were conducted at 11 different locations. There are 8 different municipalities represented in these results with a combined population of approximately 89,449

The municipalities in this report:

Boudry, Cheyres-Châbles, Cudrefin, Estavayer, Grandson, Hauterive (NE), Neuchâtel, Yverdon-les-Bains

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Survey dimensions, location and aggregated totals.

Cumulative totals all data

The cumulative results from 44 samples, weights are in kilograms, time is in hours

index # samples pieces of trash meters surveyed m² surveyed total weight plastic > 5mm weight plastic < 5mm weight labor hours
summary total
Neuenburgersee 44 4,825 3,354 15,426 17 9.45 0.0 160.0

Cumulative totals by water feature

# samples pieces of trash meters surveyed m² surveyed total weight plastic > 5mm weight plastic < 5mm weight labor hours
location
Evole plage 12 1,974 691 3,316 6 2.420 0.000020 46
Hauterive Petite plage 1 126 42 155 0 0.070 0.000000 3
Impromptu_Cudrefin 1 27 12 24 0 0.060 0.000000 2
La Petite plage 12 1,211 1,125 6,066 3 1.695 0.001548 45
Nouvelle plage 1 28 64 160 0 0.020 0.000030 3
Plage de Cheyres 12 872 1,062 4,382 2 1.056 0.000702 42
Plage de Serrière 1 194 101 286 0 0.200 0.000001 5
Pointe d'Areuse 1 32 90 360 0 0.040 0.000000 3
Pécos Plage 1 104 70 274 4 3.480 0.000420 4
Ruisseau de la croix plage 1 31 50 192 0 0.070 0.000031 3
Signalpain 1 226 47 211 0 0.340 0.000350 4

Survey totals and material type

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The most abundant objects

Combined, the ten most abundant objects from Neuenburgersee represent 68% of all objects found on Neuenburgersee.

Of the most abundant objects on Neuenburgersee, 8 are also among the most abundant in the Aare survey area.

  1. Industrial sheeting
  2. Cigarette butts and filters
  3. Food wrappers; candy, snack packaging
  4. Expanded polystyrene
  5. Glass or ceramic drink bottles, pieces
  6. Fragmented plastics
  7. Packaging plastic nonfood or unknown
  8. Styrofoam < 5mm

The most abundant objects: results by survey location

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How often are these objects found?

Some objects are found often and in elevated quantities, others are found often and in small quantities and some objects are found less often but in large quantities. Knowing the diffference can help find the sources.

The number of surveys where at least one of the most abundant objects were found

Note The survey area results include the results from the current water feature

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Utility: percent of total objects collected

The utility type is based on the utilisation of the object prior to it being discarded. Objects that are found are placed into to one of the 260 categories. Those categories are grouped according to utilisation.

For example, a piece of plastic could be placed into the category 'Fragmented plastics', depending on its size. However, a piece of plastic that was once a bucket and we know this because we are familiar with either the brand or the product or if we recognize it as a piece of a bucket it is placed in the code for buckets⁸.

  • wastewater: items released from water treatment plants includes items likely toilet flushed
  • micro plastics (< 5mm): fragmented plastic items and pre-production plastic resins
  • infrastructure: items related to construction and maintenance of all infratructure items
  • food and drink: primarily single use plastic items related to consuming food and drinks outdoors
  • agriculture: primarily industrial sheeting includes mulch films
  • tobacco: primarily cigarette ends includes all smoking related material
  • recreation: includes fishing, hunting, boating and beach related objects, excludes food, drink and tobacco items
  • packaging non food and drink: packaging or wrapping material not identified as food, drink nor tobacco related
  • plastic fragments: foam and plastic fragments of indeterminate origin and use
  • personal items: accessories, hygiene and clothing related

⁸ See the annex for the complete list of objects identified, includes category and group classification - the code for a buckets is G57

More information

Contact analyst@hammerdirt.ch for any questions about the content of this report. If you would like a report for your municipality contact the Swiss federal office for the environment: Municipal waste section.

Have a great day

This project was made possible by the Swiss federal office for the environment.
This document originates from https://github.com/hammerdirt-analyst/iqals all copyrights apply.
roger@hammerdirt.ch pushed the run button on 2021-05-25.

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Annex

  1. Effective data
  2. Correlation of results
  3. Survey location GPS
  4. Inventory of all objects removed

Effective data

The data is submitted in two parts. If a survey is missing either part we check the paper records and update when possible.

All the surveys found a home in the dimensional data

All dimensional records found a home in the survey data!

Correlation of results to local conditions

The survey results for the most abundant objects were ranked against population and three other criteria for each survey location. Within a radius of 1500m of each survey location the following characteristics were calculated:

  • buildings: m² of surface area attributed to buildings

  • streets: length in meters of all roads

  • number of stream/river discharge points

The three attributes were evaluated seperately and combined - urbanization. Urbanization is the weighted value of the sum of population, buildings and streets for each survey. The values were evaluated using the Spearmans rank correlation with p= 0.1. The results can be interpreted in the following way:

  • " + " - positive correlation: the chances of finding the object and the quantity found were increased as the amount of the attrubute increased within 1500m the survey area.

  • " - " - negative correlation: neither the chances or the quantity of finding the object found were increased by this attribute, and previously it was found in greater quantities when this atribute was minimized within 1500m of the survey area.

  • " NA " - no effect: there is no statistical basis to reject a null effect by this attribute based on the current results.

Important! Results vary for each location and at each survey. A correlation is not a sign of causation.

Annex

Survey locations

latitude longitude city water_name
location
Evole plage 46.989477 6.923920 Neuchâtel Neuenburgersee
Hauterive Petite plage 47.010797 6.980304 Hauterive (NE) Neuenburgersee
Impromptu_Cudrefin 46.964496 7.027936 Cudrefin Neuenburgersee
La Petite plage 46.785054 6.656877 Yverdon-les-Bains Neuenburgersee
Nouvelle plage 46.856646 6.848428 Estavayer Neuenburgersee
Pécos Plage 46.803590 6.636650 Grandson Neuenburgersee
Plage de Cheyres 46.818689 6.782256 Cheyres-Châbles Neuenburgersee
Plage de Serrière 46.984850 6.913450 Neuchâtel Neuenburgersee
Pointe d'Areuse 46.946190 6.870970 Boudry Neuenburgersee
Ruisseau de la croix plage 46.813920 6.774700 Cheyres-Châbles Neuenburgersee
Signalpain 46.786200 6.647360 Yverdon-les-Bains Neuenburgersee

Annex

Inventory of all items

item quantity % of total utility % of samples
code
G27 Cigarette butts and filters 936 19.4 tobacco 93.2
Gfrags Fragmented plastics 675 14.0 plastic pieces 95.5
Gfoam Expanded polystyrene 348 7.2 infrastructure 72.7
G200 Glass or ceramic drink bottles, pieces 340 7.0 food and drink 84.1
G30 Food wrappers; candy, snack packaging 306 6.3 food and drink 88.6
G941 Packaging plastic nonfood or unknown 174 3.6 packaging non food 52.3
G117 Styrofoam < 5mm 162 3.4 micro plastics (< 5mm) 27.3
G67 Industrial sheeting 127 2.6 agriculture 72.7
G98 Diapers - wipes 118 2.4 waste water 43.2
G177 Foil wrappers, aluminum foil 104 2.2 food and drink 61.4
G95 Cotton bud/swab sticks 89 1.8 waste water 63.6
G178 Metal bottle caps, lids & pull tabs from cans 67 1.4 food and drink 54.5
G89 Plastic construction waste 64 1.3 infrastructure 52.3
G156 Paper fragments 64 1.3 not classified 40.9
G112 Industrial pellets (nurdles) 62 1.3 micro plastics (< 5mm) 36.4
G74 Insulation: includes spray foams and foam board 52 1.1 infrastructure 50.0
G186 Industrial scrap 49 1.0 infrastructure 27.3
G25 Tobacco; plastic packaging, containers 42 0.9 tobacco 45.5
G33 Cups, lids, single use foamed and hard plastic 42 0.9 food and drink 50.0
G50 String < 1cm 39 0.8 recreation 43.2
G904 Fireworks; rocket caps, exploded parts & packa... 37 0.8 recreation 34.1
G922 Labels, bar codes 36 0.7 packaging non food 40.9
G21 Drink lids 36 0.7 food and drink 34.1
G923 Tissue, toilet paper, napkins, paper towels 32 0.7 personal items 36.4
G35 Straws and stirrers 30 0.6 food and drink 40.9
G203 Tableware ceramic or glass, cups, plates, pieces 30 0.6 not classified 22.7
G32 Toys and party favors 30 0.6 recreation 43.2
G93 Cable ties; steggel, zip, zap straps 27 0.6 infrastructure 27.3
G211 Other medical items (swabs, bandaging, adhesiv... 26 0.5 personal items 34.1
G10 Food containers single use foamed or plastic 26 0.5 food and drink 27.3
G106 Plastic fragments angular <5mm 24 0.5 micro plastics (< 5mm) 25.0
G23 Lids unidentified 24 0.5 packaging non food 29.5
G66 Straps/bands; hard, plastic package fastener 22 0.5 infrastructure 36.4
G191 Wire and mesh 20 0.4 agriculture 18.2
G100 Medical; containers/tubes/ packaging 20 0.4 waste water 34.1
G31 Lollypop sticks 19 0.4 food and drink 31.8
G22 Lids for chemicals, detergents (non-food) 18 0.4 infrastructure 20.5
G152 Cigarette boxes, tobacco related paper/cardboard 17 0.4 tobacco 18.2
G24 Lid/cap rings from plastic bottles/containers 16 0.3 food and drink 20.5
G3 Bags; plastic shopping/carrier/grocery and pieces 16 0.3 packaging non food 20.5
G96 Sanitary-pads/panty liners/tampons 16 0.3 waste water 22.7
G153 Cups, food containers, wrappers (paper) 15 0.3 food and drink 20.5
G908 Tape; electrical, insulating 13 0.3 infrastructure 18.2
G26 Cigarette lighters 12 0.2 tobacco 20.5
G131 Rubber bands 12 0.2 personal items 20.5
G175 Cans, beverage 11 0.2 food and drink 20.5
G137 Clothing, towels & rags 11 0.2 not classified 13.6
G125 Balloons and balloon sticks 11 0.2 recreation 20.5
G905 Hair clip, hair ties, personal accessories pl... 11 0.2 personal items 20.5
G28 Pens, lids, mechanical pencils etc. 11 0.2 personal items 13.6
G73 Foamed items & pieces (non packaging/insulatio... 10 0.2 recreation 18.2
G165 Ice cream sticks, toothpicks, chopsticks 10 0.2 food and drink 15.9
G91 Biomass holder 10 0.2 waste water 9.1
G158 Other paper items 10 0.2 not classified 4.5
G87 Tape, masking/duct/packing 10 0.2 infrastructure 18.2
G198 Other metal pieces < 50cm 9 0.2 not classified 11.4
G928 Ribbons and bows 8 0.2 not classified 9.1
G134 Other rubber 8 0.2 not classified 11.4
G167 Matches or fireworks 8 0.2 recreation 2.3
G194 Cables, metal wire(s) often inside rubber or p... 8 0.2 infrastructure 13.6
G208 Glass or ceramic fragments > 2.5 cm 7 0.1 not classified 6.8
G210 Other glass/ceramic 7 0.1 not classified 4.5
G146 Paper, cardboard 7 0.1 packaging non food 4.5
G142 Rope , string or nets 7 0.1 recreation 13.6
G70 Shotgun cartridges 7 0.1 recreation 13.6
G201 Jars, glass or pottery, includes pieces 6 0.1 not classified 9.1
G204 Construction material; bricks, pipes, cement 6 0.1 infrastructure 11.4
G7 Drink bottles < = 0.5L 6 0.1 food and drink 9.1
G213 Paraffin wax 6 0.1 recreation 9.1
G149 Paper packaging 6 0.1 packaging non food 4.5
G939 Flowers, plants plastic 5 0.1 not classified 6.8
G918 Safety pins, paper clips, small metal utility ... 5 0.1 personal items 9.1
G4 Small plastic bags; freezer, zip-lock etc. 5 0.1 packaging non food 4.5
G124 Other plastic or foam products 5 0.1 not classified 9.1
G126 Balls 5 0.1 recreation 6.8
G940 Foamed EVA for crafts and sports 5 0.1 recreation 4.5
G919 Nails, screws, bolts etc. 5 0.1 infrastructure 6.8
G90 Plastic flower pots 5 0.1 agriculture 9.1
G135 Clothes, footware, headware, gloves 5 0.1 personal items 9.1
G34 Cutlery, plates and trays 4 0.1 food and drink 6.8
G68 Fiberglass fragments 4 0.1 infrastructure 6.8
G938 Toothpicks, dental floss plastic 4 0.1 food and drink 9.1
G942 Plastic shavings from lathes, CNC machining 4 0.1 not classified 6.8
G914 Paperclips, clothespins, plastic utility items 4 0.1 personal items 9.1
G48 Rope, synthetic 4 0.1 recreation 9.1
G921 Ceramic tile and pieces 4 0.1 infrastructure 9.1
G929 Electronics and pieces; sensors, headsets etc. 4 0.1 personal items 6.8
G901 Mask medical, synthetic 4 0.1 personal items 9.1
G159 Corks 4 0.1 food and drink 9.1
G2 Bags 4 0.1 packaging non food 6.8
G101 Dog feces bag 3 0.1 personal items 4.5
G104 Plastic fragments subrounded <5mm 3 0.1 micro plastics (< 5mm) 4.5
G945 Razor blades 3 0.1 personal items 6.8
G99 Syringes - needles 3 0.1 personal items 6.8
G38 Coverings; plastic packaging, sheeting for pro... 3 0.1 agriculture 4.5
G933 Bags, cases for accessories; glasses, electron... 3 0.1 personal items 4.5
G20 Caps and lids 3 0.1 packaging non food 6.8
G936 Sheeting ag. greenhouse film 3 0.1 agriculture 4.5
G11 Cosmetics for the beach, e.g. sunblock 3 0.1 recreation 6.8
G71 Shoes sandals 2 0.0 personal items 2.3
G926 Chewing gum, often contains plastics 2 0.0 food and drink 2.3
G157 Paper 2 0.0 not classified 4.5
G161 Processed timber 2 0.0 agriculture 4.5
G915 Reflectors, plastic motility items 2 0.0 personal items 2.3
G8 Drink bottles > 0.5L 2 0.0 food and drink 4.5
G59 Fishing line monofilament (angling) 2 0.0 recreation 2.3
G148 Cardboard (boxes and fragments) 2 0.0 not classified 4.5
G115 Foamed plastic <5mm 2 0.0 micro plastics (< 5mm) 2.3
G182 Fishing; hooks, weights, lures, sinkers etc. 2 0.0 recreation 4.5
G931 Tape-caution for barrier, police, construction... 2 0.0 infrastructure 4.5
G39 Gloves 2 0.0 not classified 2.3
G29 Combs, brushes and sunglasses 2 0.0 recreation 4.5
G136 Shoes 2 0.0 personal items 4.5
G170 Wood (processed) 2 0.0 agriculture 2.3
G925 Packets: desiccant/ moisture absorbers, plasti... 2 0.0 packaging non food 4.5
G181 Tableware metal; cups, cutlery etc. 2 0.0 food and drink 4.5
G197 Other metal 2 0.0 not classified 4.5
G102 Flip-flops 2 0.0 personal items 4.5
G64 Fenders 1 0.0 not classified 2.3
G94 Table cloth 1 0.0 recreation 2.3
G154 Newspapers or magazines 1 0.0 personal items 2.3
G927 String trimmer line, used to cut grass, weeds,... 1 0.0 not classified 2.3
G119 Sheetlike user plastic (>1mm) 1 0.0 micro plastics (< 5mm) 2.3
G14 Engine oil bottles 1 0.0 agriculture 2.3
G144 Tampons 1 0.0 waste water 2.3
G930 Foam earplugs 1 0.0 personal items 2.3
G107 Cylindrical pellets < 5mm 1 0.0 micro plastics (< 5mm) 2.3
G84 CD or CD box 1 0.0 personal items 2.3
G133 Condoms incl. packaging 1 0.0 waste water 2.3
G195 Batteries - household 1 0.0 personal items 2.3
G17 Injection gun cartridge 1 0.0 infrastructure 2.3
G943 Fencing agriculture, plastic 1 0.0 not classified 2.3
G903 Hand sanitizer containers & packets 1 0.0 personal items 2.3
G103 Plastic fragments rounded <5mm 1 0.0 micro plastics (< 5mm) 2.3
G902 Mask medical, cloth reusable 1 0.0 personal items 2.3
G176 Cans, food 1 0.0 food and drink 2.3
G155 Fireworks paper tubes and fragments 1 0.0 recreation 2.3
G13 Bottles, containers, drums to transport, store... 1 0.0 not classified 2.3
G60 Light sticks 1 0.0 recreation 2.3
G916 Pencils and pieces 1 0.0 personal items 2.3
G111 Spheruloid pellets < 5mm 1 0.0 micro plastics (< 5mm) 2.3
G40 Gloves household/gardening 1 0.0 not classified 2.3
G52 Nets and pieces 1 0.0 recreation 2.3
G65 Buckets 1 0.0 agriculture 2.3